Pioneering the Human Development Revolution: An Intellectual Biography of Mahbub Ul Haq

Mahbub ul Haq, the father of human development, shaped development philosophy and practice in the four decades from the 1960s to the 1990s. He shifted the focus of development discourse to people and their well-being, monitoring its progress through the Human Development Index. Haq initiated a global movement involving policymakers, scholars, and activists who adopted his innovative ideas for people-centric development where education, health, and political and economic empowerment together became the yardstick for measuring a country’s performance. This intellectual biography is a tribute to Haq’s pioneering work. Comprising essays by Haq’s intellectual partners and colleagues, this volume traces the evolution of his ideas, especially the links he established between  growth, people’s well-being, and poverty alleviation, people’s well-being, and poverty alleviation. Each essay situated and discusses his contribution to the larger development debate and assesses the impact of his ideas on the contemporary global development agenda. A valuable addition to the literature on human development, this volume will benefit students as well as scholars of economics, political science, history, sociology, and women’s studies in both developed and developing countries.